


Day Four: Lover, Not a Fighter

by firstdegreefangirl



Series: Christopher Diaz is a National Hero Week 2020 [4]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, chris would kill someone for buck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23825923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firstdegreefangirl/pseuds/firstdegreefangirl
Summary: Chris Week Day Four: mean/mad/protective Chris!Eddie gets a call from the school that Christopher hit another student.
Relationships: Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Christopher Diaz is a National Hero Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712986
Comments: 12
Kudos: 248





	Day Four: Lover, Not a Fighter

**Author's Note:**

> Whoops, this went on tumblr last night and then I just didn't get it cross-posted after work. But it's here now!   
> xoxo

“Hang on.” Eddie steps back from the foosball table, reaching for his phone. “It’s Chris’s school; I’ve got to take this. Someone sub in?”

Chimney takes his place opposite Hen, and Buck tries to look like he’s not following Eddie across the room. 

“Hello? … Yes, I’m Eddie, what’s going on?” He answers the phone and pauses, listening to the voice on the other end. “He _what_? No, no of course I understand. Someone will be there. Thanks for calling.” He hangs up and drags a hand down his face with a heavy sigh.

“Eddie? Everything OK, man?” Buck takes a careful step closer, his expression teeming with concern.

“I’ve got to go talk to Cap. Apparently Chis hit a kid and someone has to go pick him up. Abuela could probably get him, but I think I need to find out what happened.” Eddie turns for the stairs, Buck following closely behind.

“He _hit_ someone? They’re sure they called the right parent? Chris is a lover, not a fighter.”

“They said he used his crutch, Buck. That kind of narrows down who it could be.” Eddie raps his knuckles against Bobby’s doorframe. “Cap? Do you have a second?”

“Sure, Diaz. What’s up?” Bobby slides a stack of papers to the side, giving Eddie his full attention.

“I just got a call from Chris’s school. Apparently, there was some sort of incident on the playground, and they’re saying he whacked someone with his crutch. You mind if I take off early to go pick him up? I can come back later or something, but I’m not going to be any use until I find out what happened.”

“Take the afternoon, Eddie.” Bobby’s brow is furrowed. “Get to the bottom of it, and start fresh tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Cap.” Eddie slaps the door gently as he jogs down the stairs, checking to see if his keys are in his work pants or if he has to stop at the locker room.

He pulls the keyring out and jingles it in his hand, unlocking his truck as he gets to the door, still wearing his LAFD tee and uniform pants. 

It’s the fastest he’s ever driven to Christopher’s school. The time Buck drove him after the earthquake is a close second, but he still makes it in record time. When he pushes the buzzer for the office, he’s breathing heavily, and as soon as he’s inside, Christopher is looking up at him with tears in his eyes.

“Dad? Am I in trouble?”

“I think so, kiddo. They don’t usually call me at work to tell me that you’re having a great day, do they?” 

Before he can say anything else, the principal is calling them into her office. Eddie can’t remember the last time he felt so chastised in a school, but he can feel the judgement from the administrator about the kind of father that would raise a son who hits people. He still doesn’t get many details, just that he was playing with a group of boys at recess and then one of them was on the ground, shouting that Christopher had hit him. The other student isn’t in the office, but apparently there’s a bright red stipe across his calf to back up the story. 

The principal releases them, Christopher with a two-day suspension and Eddie with a scathing look. Eddie leads him out to the truck, and they ride home in silence while Eddie tries to figure out what he’s supposed to say next.

As he opens the front door, he looks down at Christopher.

“Go sit on the couch, bud. We need to talk.”

He watches Christopher head for the living room, but Eddie turns for the kitchen first. It’s too early in the afternoon for beer, but there’s no way he’s going to make it through this without some sort of pick-me-up, so he pops a cup in the Keurig and puts a mug underneath, waiting for his latte while he finishes thinking.

The hot mug in his hands does little to soothe his frustrations as he kneels down in front of Christopher.

“Are you gonna yell at me?” His eyes are wide, still glassed over with tears that haven’t fallen. He’s clearly terrified, and Eddie has the sinking feeling that Chris is scared of him.

“I’m going to try not to.” He moves to sit on the couch, waiting for Christopher to turn and face him. “But you remember how we talked about how CP means you can’t always do things like other kids?”

“Yeah?” Christopher looks puzzled, and Eddie wonders how he doesn’t already know where this is going.

“Well … sometimes it means that the other kids might be mean to you. And that’s not OK,” he hurries to add, then takes a sip of his drink. “But what’s also not OK is you being mean back. You can’t hit people just because they say something mean to you.”

“But Da-” Christopher tries to interject, but Eddie keeps going.

“You can says something back, or you can tell a grown-up that you’re getting bullied, but –”

“Dad!” He finally shouts loudly enough for Eddie to stop talking. “No one was making fun of me!”

Eddie purses his lips. He’s not sure how Christopher thinks he’ll feel better knowing that he wailed off and hit another student without even being provoked first. When he opens his mouth, there’s a tinge of frustration in his tone.

“It’s _never_ OK for you to hit someone, Christopher. Especially if they haven’t done anything to you first.” 

And yeah, there’s a hint of irony there for Eddie to recognize. But Christopher doesn’t know about the street fighting, will _never_ know about it if Eddie has any say, so that’s ireelevant here. It’s part of his past, not part of what he’s dealing with in the present. 

Besides, he’s come to learn that a lot of parenting is “do as I say, not as I do.” 

“Dad! He was being mean to Bucky!” 

“What?” Eddie blinks at his son, trying to figure out the turn their conversation has just taken.

Christopher leans forward and tells him how last week when Buck picked him up from school, he was wearing shorts. Eddie spares a quick moment of silent pride for his best friend, knowing how hard it’s been for Buck to even work up to texting him selfies from the fitting room as he tries shorts on now that there’s an angry red scar running down his leg. 

But he turns his attention back to Christopher, who’s telling him about recess today, when apparently some kid named Carson was making fun of Buck’s leg.

“I-I told him not to say anything like that, because it’s m-mean,” Christopher sniffles, rapidly losing the battle against crying. “and-and because Bucky is really brave, but he wouldn’t _st-stop_ and –” The end of his sentence dies against a sob, but Eddie knows where it was going.

“So you hit him.”

“Yeah.” He drags his hand across his eyes, and Eddie reaches for a tissue as he pulls Christopher into his lap. He’s almost too big to be held like this, but Eddie figures they could both use the reassurance as he kisses Christopher’s shoulder gently and sighs.

“Mijo, it’s so good that you stood up for Buck. Carson shouldn’t have been making fun of him, even if he wasn’t there to see it. You’re a good friend for defending him like that. But you have to understand that it’s not OK to hit other people. Ever. No matter how angry you are, you have to find a better way to express it. Alright?”

Christopher nods, then leans back to look Eddie in the eye. 

“Am I in trouble?” He’s stopped crying, but his lower lip is trembling like he might start again at any second. Eddie sighs, taking a moment to consider his answer.

“Not this time. This time, we talk about it, and you learn. You’ll spend your suspension days with Carla, but she’s not taking you for anything special, OK? You’ve still got schoolwork to get done. And when you go back, you need to apologize to Carson. But no extra trouble. That said, if this happens again, that answer’s going to change. Understood?” 

He’s trying to look and sound stern, without being too aggressive, and he’s pretty sure it comes across when Christopher nods. 

“Good. You know I love you, right, Superman?”

“I love you too, Dad.” Christopher leans forward again, throwing his arms around Eddie’s neck and squeezing him in a tight hug.

Eddie hugs him back, remembering what Buck had said earlier in the day. He’s never been more sure of anything as he turns his head to bury his nose in Chris’s curls and holds him a little tighter.

_He’s a lover, not a fighter._

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! See y'all in a few hours with day five!


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